“We feel like we’ve been robbed,” said Greg. “This is not the medical cannabis that we’ve been campaigning for. It’s a sleight of hand.”

He pointed out that getting specialist referrals and appointments on the NHS can take months or years and that cannabis based medicines would only be prescribed as a last resort.

Alex Stevens, a member of the UK government’s independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs told the journal that law change was “a missed opportunity to reduce suffering”, adding: “Many of the people who want to use cannabis to ease their pain or treat their symptoms will still have to commit crime to get it.”

Also quoted is Genevieve Edwards, director of external affairs at the MS society, who said the guidance made access to cannabis treatments “much more limited than we were led to believe”.